Shards of Innocence
by Marine is hope2
Summary: Wounds can heal, just as cities can rebuild after the end of all wars; but memories... they stay for all a person's life and they often cut deeper than the sharpest knife.


Light shined and birds chirped. Lithuania could only lean his head back and minutely bask in the warmth that beat down on his face from that warm sun. It was so much better than that blinding ball of light that reflected off the ice crystals in Russia's house.

The whole world seemed to be split in two: one half was celebrating; the other was desperately attempting to recuperate. Japan had been so harshly bombed by America that he was not even able to walk on his own and seemed to be bed-ridden quite often. Germany, Germany was divided in two; a part of him was given to Russia, the other half to the United States and the other Allies.

He remembered looking at the supposed leader of the Axis Powers and seeing a man who was drawn and pale; his cheeks were callow and his eyes dim. He took every punishment that he was give. He seemed to blame himself for what had happened to all of the people that were victims his land. Though Lithuania could not deem that just, for there was the fact that Germany had not even known about the camps until after the war was over.

Lithuania looked up at Russia, who was talking to Cuba. Russia: a superpower. Oh God, what was the world coming to?

Nodding his head toward his silvery-blond haired superior, he took his leave and went outside into the hallways of the War Memorial Opera House.

He closed his eyes, still hearing Alfred's unnaturally solemn voice ringing out over the resound walls.

It was over. The War was over.

Though they each had marks that had come with the amounts of battles they fought.

His hand touched the left side of his chest were the pale scar still stood out. Poland, no, _Feliks_ had attacked him.

_Like ,Liet: it could be just like the old days. We could be a commonwealth again!_

No, all that was the past. He did not need to think about it. It had been a desperate time. They had all been confused and scared.

That had been the only reason that Poland had attacked him. It had to be.

Then it hit him: he hadn't talked to the blond yet. He hadn't even seen him at the conference.

He rounded a corner when a small voice came upon his ears.

_Rozszumiały się wierzby płaczące,  
Rozpłakała się dziewczyna w głos,  
Od łez oczy podniosła błyszczące,  
Na żołnierski, na twardy życia los._

Wait, he knew that voice. He took off down the hallways, letting the voice lead him on. His heart fluttered with an unstoppable joy. He knew that he should not be the gleeful, though just the thought of seeing his _best friend_ on somewhere other than the battlefield sent his rationality away. The song continued.

_Nie szumcie, wierzby, nam,  
Żalu, co serce rwie,  
Nie płacz, dziewczyno ma,  
Bo w partyzantce nie jest źle.  
Do tańca grają nam  
Granaty, stenów szczęk,  
Śmierć kosi niby łan,  
Lecz my nie wiemy, co to lęk._

The voice broke and fell silent as though so passerby might hear and scorn the singer as an adult would scold a child. That voice was so unlike its normal flamboyant self, with its tones that would make even the birds sing in chorus.

Lithuania pushed open the oak door, revealing a small theater. Though it was seemingly empty at first glance, Toris could make out the crouched outline of someone in the third row down.

The bent form stirred, revealing a pale head turning to look at the open door with frightened clover eyes.

Though soon those eyes were washed over with relief.

"Liet? Like, Liet! Oh my God! It's like you! Liet! Toris! Tory!" Lithuania was soon caught up in too-thin arms and a too-small and too-skinny body was pressed against his in what was supposed to be a warm hug. He was cold. Feliks was freezing.

"F-Feliks?" All the words that he had been readying in his mind to say had faltered and withered upon his lips as he looked at the boy.

That once pump face was sharply angled, and those bright eyes were sunken into their sockets. Cuts and scratches littered the smaller teen's arms and once-clear skin. His flaxen hair was cut short, far too short. It only reached the tops of his ears, if that.

When Feliks looked up at him his green eyes confused and worried, Lithuania brought his arms around his friend. He was too bony. What was he eating?

He pulled back, his blue eyes meeting green.

"What happened to you? You look horrible."

Poland shrank back, though he managed to force a grin to stay on his face.

"Like, nothing happened, Liet! What makes you think that something has?" Lithuania reached foreword to touch those shorn locks, though at his touch Feliks jerked back, that fearful glint not escaping Toris's gaze.

So instead of more questioning, Lithuania smiled, and gave his petite friend an embrace that he hoped would bring some type of warmth into that freezing body. Every thing was fine now… they were side-by-side once again.

If only it could have stayed that way. For then the nightmares started.

~.~.~0~.~.~

Toris rushed into Feliks' bubblegum pink room following an ear-piercing scream that had shattered the air not a few minutes ago.

His stricken face soon turned to one of confusion when he gazed at the Pole that was curled upon the bed in a ball.

Muttered whispers reached his ears, though as he tried to decipher them he realized that they were not in Polish or even in Lithuanian.

It was a mix of Yiddish and German, broken phrases that the brown haired youth did not understand.

Green eyes were glazed with sleep and terror, focusing on some unimaginable horror that was beyond Lithuania's eyesight.

Lithuania-no, Toris reached forward, grabbing his friend's hands, though not saying a word as the shaking continued to the rhythm of his own heart.

"L-Lietuvos?" Toris realized that he, too, was trembling. Feliks was supposed to be the string one, not the other way around.

"What happened to you?" He pleaded, and Feliks gave him an empty smile, though did not respond.

"Nothing can make a country like this, Feliks." Red lips parted and closed, as that mind tried to come up with something to say.

Though no sugar-coated words could hide the harsh reality.

"Like, when I was partitioned by Germany and Russia, I, like, tried to start a revolt. Germany's Boss really didn't like that. So he sent me to a labor camp."

"His boss sent you to a concentration camp?"

Smile faltered, and Lithuania could now see that it was a false pretense of what the petite man was suffering through.

"Yeah, he, like, made a bunch of them in my countryside. I was sent to Treblinka…" He drifted off, now shaking.

"Feliks?"

"Liet… Liet… I'm so sick of war. What does it matter what someone looks like or believes in?" Toris had wrapped his arms around the blonde once again, holding him. He was unsure what else he could do.

That was only three days before he was taken back to Russia.

~.~.~0~.~.~

Toris Lorinaitis walked down the frigid hallway his blue eyes ablaze with never-before-seen anger and defiance. Hungry left. So did Prussia. Could he? Did his people have the strength in order to not back down against the anger that Russia would show?

Estonia looked at him from down the hallway his eyes glinting with slight worry, Latvia tailed behind him in slight apprehension.

Lithuania walked up to the double doors, and gripped the metal handles with a white-knuckled grip.

A white-toothed smile flashed in his mind's eye.

_Your face looks, like, totally hilarious right now._

He closed his eyes, seeing those clover orbs filling with tears as Russia dragged him away once again, how could fate have been so cruel to rip him away from Feliks when the boy had needed him most?

_D-Don't go…_

He jerked the doors back, and he felt two pairs of hands coming to grip his left and right palms with a determined manner.

Reopening his lidded eyes he stared straight into violet irises of the man sitting before the trio.

"Russia, we, the Baltic States declare our independence."

The smile that showed on those pale lips looked far too much like a snarl.

"We'll see about that."

~.~.~0~.~.~

"Like, Liet! Liet!" Toris looked out of a mop of brown bangs. Who was the one that was on the other side of that wall? What a disgusting barrier. The Easterners surged foreword in a massive wave. They clutched chisels and hammers.

The echo of metal hitting stone was ringing in all of the Eastern countries hearts. Hungry, whom had come back to help the Soviet Nations, had found a hole and was now sobbing as she clutched the hand of what Lithuania assumed to be Austria. Even Ravis had a pickaxe in his hand and was swinging away at the concrete. For once the tears in his eyes weren't from fear or pain, but instead were of happiness. The crowd moved together once again, sectioning out a piece of the weak stone. Then it was broken.

Lithuania was pulled out with the crowd, and was dazed for a moment at the bright lights directed upon him and the others surrounding him. Families were reuniting; friends were clutching one another with vigor.

He looked around and saw the other countries surrounded him.

Prussia was badgering Germany, who was attempting not to show the relief that was evident in his heart. Austria and Hungry were embracing. America was jumping around in joy, while Britain attempted to control him. The Brit looked somewhat skeptical as did France. Though they were both helping others out of the hole created in the Wall.

"TORIS!" Lithuania was bombed with a blond missile, one that had so much vigor that the brunette nearly fell to the ground as he looked up at his best friend in a daze. Poland looked far better than when he had last seen him.

The Pole's green eyes glinted with joyful tears and he gripped Toris with renewed energy.

"H-Hey Feliks." Toris cursed himself for the stutter, though Poland didn't seem to hear it. He was rambling, on and on, about what the two would be able to do from now on.

"And, like, we could so go to Warsaw and get, like, three cones of ice-cream and eat until we get sick. And…"

Toris could only bury his head in his friend's shoulder to keep from showing the tears that were running down his face. He had forgotten just how much he loved hearing that voice.

He was home. Feliks was home.

They were going home.

Though, a cold gush sent a shiver up Lithuania's spine. He looked back through the wall…

~.~.~0~.~.~

Scars could burn like flame. It may not always be physical pain, though the emotional wounds could leave a brand that would smart for eternity.

Toris rolled over, a grimace featured upon his face as his left hand gripped the right side of his back as if he was mortally wounded. There was a shuffle behind him.

Blue eyes opened to see clover looking back at him with worry. He jumped back, still not accustom to someone being this close to him. Unless it was Russia, but…

He shivered, and pulled the blankets around him tighter.

"Like, you okay, Liet?" He nodded and rolled over.

Though, just after he did that, there was another sting of pain, this time from his shoulder.

He hadn't told Feliks, he didn't want to be a bother. It would only cause the blonde more anger and worry. He ignored the freezing feeling in his chest as violet eyes flashed in his mind.

There was a shuffle of sheets, and Poland sat up, his pink-unicorn-clad pajamas now visible. His cat-like gaze was now accompanied with a pout of distress.

"Liet?" The blonde reached out and trailed three fingers down his friend's cloth covered spine.

Toris jerked away, slinking backward so that his head cracked against the wooden head board and he bit back a yelp of pain.

Emerald eyes were more than just worried: they were locked on the brunet with a curious fret.

"Like careful Liet, no one's gonna hurt you. It's just me." Beryl orbs closed, and then slowly opened. Arms wrapped around his torso, and he stiffened.

"You're like, way too skinny." The Pole's voice was muffled by covers and cotton, "And like, you are totally jumpier. Like, I'll portect you, 'cause you protected me, and that's what friends are for."

Lithuania stared up at Poland with shocked eyes.

"W-What?" His voice cracked and was soft from the shock and confusion that ran through his veins at the last statement.

"Like, you're my friend, so I'm going to protect you against anyone that tries to hurt you, like you did for me." The blonde was now picking at invisable specks that were on his printed top, a light dusting of red was painted against his cheeks.

Toris did not know what to say, so he only continued to gaze at Feliks with wide eyes. For no matter how many years Poland and he had been together, he could count off the times that Poland had actually stated that he cared about him on one hand.

Lithuania's lips turned upward in a wobbily smile and he closed his eyes.

His friend, too, laid his head down on the light fuchsia casing and looked up at the ceiling. He willed himself to drift away to the land of dreams.

Feliks' hand searched for a moment and came to clasp those long fingers in his own.

"Please, anybody who'll listen... if you're even there, protect him, protect all that may be left of the shards of innocence that are in this world of ours.

_Na wieki wieków._

_

* * *

_Historical Referances:

Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned the Poland/Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, 1792, and 1795

Following World War I and the collapse of Russia, Lithuania declared independence (1918), under German protection.

The republic was then annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.

From June 1941 to 1944, it was occupied by German troops, with whom Lithuania served in World War II.

In June 1941, all the Polish lands came under control of the Third Reich.

As the principal center of European Jewry, Poland became the main killing ground of the Nazi Holocaust; several of the most lethal death camps, including Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Treblinka, operated on Polish soil. The Germans annihilated nearly all of Poland's 3 million Jews. Roughly as many Polish gentiles also perished under the occupation.

By 1944 the Polish Home Army claimed 400,000 members. Acting independently of the overall Polish resistance, an underground Jewish network organized the courageous but unsuccessful 1943 risings in the ghettos of Warsaw, Bialystok, and Vilnius.

In the end of 1953, the Soviets again annexed Lithuania.

The Lithuanian independence movement reemerged in 1988

Vytautas Landsbergis, the non-Communist head of the largest Lithuanian popular movement (Sajudis), was elected president. On the same day, the Supreme Council rejected Soviet rule and declared the restoration of Lithuania's independence, it was the first Baltic republic to take action against the Soviet Union. It was soon followed by Estonia and Lativa.

Hungary effectively disabled its physical border defenses with Austria on August 19, 1989, and in September more than 13,000 East German tourists escaped through Hungary to Austria.

November 9, 1989 is considered the date the Wall fell.

Polish:

_Na wieki wieków. _Now and Forever.


End file.
